By Michael Howard (HRV)<\/p>\n
A happy hunting ground for Kate and Andy Gath became doubly so as the pair claimed a fifth Cranbourne crown and, along the way, picked up a season-long premiership.<\/p>\n
An eventful and entertaining Betavet Bruce Skeggs Memorial Cranbourne Trotters Cup had action throughout and that was all perfectly to script for Kate Gath and her steer Majestuoso, who sat in wait and then took command late to win handsomely.<\/p>\n
And with that Majestuoso joined Elegant Image (2012), Tornado Valley (2018 and 2019) and Havehorsewilltravel (2021) as Cup champ for the Gaths, and while the latter could only muster ninth in his title defence he did claim his own riches.<\/p>\n
Havehorsewilltravel picked up the $25,000 bonus for winning the Maori\u2019s Idol Trotting Championship,\u00a0amassing 25 points across the season to take the prize ahead of Travel Bug (20),\u00a0with Cranbourne the last qualifying Cup of the season.<\/p>\n
It was part of a successful night for the Gath stable, with Sanday and Chinese Whisper also scoring, while Majesutoso\u2019s impressive win would have eased a little of the anguish of the talented trotter going so close when second in last Saturday’s SENTrack Inter Dominion final.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really special to win it tonight,\u201d Kate Gath told TrotsVision, with the significantly beefed up $50,000 purse giving the race Group 1 status.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe couldn\u2019t quite get the Inter Dominion win, but it\u2019s a pretty good consolation. It\u2019s really good the job he did tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a bit of speed on early, which really helped. There was lots happening,\u201d Kate Gath said. \u201cWe got to pop around at the time and his class just proved too strong. Hopeful Beauty\u2019s been absolutely flying, so it was a really good effort to beat her in the straight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The\u00a0rich Aurora Australis series\u00a0lies ahead for trotters in Victoria, an eight-race series that begins with Bendigo’s Maori Mile on January 7 and runs through to the February 25 Australian Trotting Grand Prix, offering $705,000 in prizemoney plus bonuses.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Michael Howard (HRV) A happy hunting ground for Kate and Andy Gath became doubly so as the pair claimed a fifth Cranbourne crown and, along the way, picked up a season-long premiership. An eventful and entertaining Betavet Bruce Skeggs Memorial Cranbourne Trotters Cup had action throughout and that was all perfectly to script for […]<\/p>\n